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(WASHINGTON) - Citing the critical importance of the Transportation Security Administration to the safe, secure and efficient movement of air cargo, the Airforwarder's Association (AfA) today called on President Obama to nominate a new administrator for the agency. The TSA has been without a confirmed administrator since the end of 2014, when John Pistole retired from the agency to take a position in academia. While praising the work of the agency's interim leadership and staff, the AfA, which represents more than 360 companies that move air cargo through the supply chain, noted that the TSA's operations and policies have broad impact on its members. Read more...

A Renewed Call to Action at AirCargo 2015 - (Air Cargo World, March 4, 2015) In the next few years, changes in the world of airfreight – in the form of e-commerce, staff turnover, competition and belly capacity – may be coming faster than shippers, forwarders, carriers and airports are prepared for, said speakers at yesterday’s AirCargo 2015 conference session, “Regulatory and Policy Issues for Air Cargo Development.” Read more in Air Cargo World...

Air Freight All-Star Jim Crane, Owner of the Houston Astros, to Keynote AirCargo 2015 Conference - (November 17, 2014) Jim Crane, the Houston Astros owner who built his wealth and success on revolutionizing air cargo, will give the keynote address at AirCargo 2015, the premier trade show and expo for the air freight industry, scheduled for March 1-3 at the Sheraton New Orleans. During his presentation to more than 900 expected attendees from across the freight forwarding and air cargo industries, Crane will discuss his cutting-edge strategies for moving freight and building enormously successful companies that do it. Read more...

JFK Upgrade Spurs Backlash Over Moving Freight Upstate- (Chicago Tribune from Bloomberg News, October 30, 2014) Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to make New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport more passenger- friendly by cutting out most cargo facilities risks backfiring, a shipping-industry group and analysts say. Shippers say moving any part of the industry will wreck a business that carries 1.3 million tons of goods through JFK annually, making it the seventh-largest U.S. cargo airport. Read more...

Allow Privately Trained Dogs to Screen Air Cargo at Off-Airport Facilities, Airforwarders Urge Congressional Panel (June 24, 2014) - The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should move toward permitting private contractors to train explosive-sniffing dogs and make them available for use at government certified cargo screening facilities, the Airforwarders Association (AfA) urged a congressional panel in testimony today. Appearing before the U.S. House of Representatives' Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security, AfA board member Chris Connell urged TSA to finalize its efforts to develop a program for private companies to use their own canines, certified to TSA standards, to meet federal air cargo screening mandates. Currently, TSA permits only the use of the agency's dogs in cargo screening, and only at on-airport facilities. Read more...

Airforwarders Hail Enactment of Ports and Waterways Legislation (June 10, 2014) The Airforwarders Association (AfA) today welcomed the enactment of federal legislation authorizing new projects to improve the nation's ports and to strengthen its water transportation networks. The bill, the Water Resources Reformand Development Act (WRRDA), was signed into law by the President today after receiving overwhelmingly bipartisan support in both houses of Congress. In addition to authorizing federal spending on a broad range of ports and waterways infrastructure projects, it also cuts red tape and bureaucracy in order to accelerate their completion. Read more...

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The Airforwarders Association represents nearly 400 member companies employing tens of thousands of employees and dedicated contractors. Our members range from small businesses employing fewer than 20 people to large companies employing well over 1,000 and business models varying from domestic to worldwide international operations. Additionally, a few of our members operate their own aircraft. Membership in the AfA offers companies a wide range of opportunities to network with their industry colleagues, to monitor and help drive public policies that affect their businesses, and to increase their knowledge of industry standards, practices and ongoing developments.